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Re: New Snowden leak: NSA program taps all you do online

Originally Posted by Surtr

What's really stupid is that you clearly didn't read the article.

Actually, you are the one that mentioned personnel spying on American citizens, when I bought up a program doing it. The article in the OP clearly states that "You've never heard of XKeyscore, but it definitely knows you. The National Security Agency's top-secret program essentially makes available everything you've ever done on the Internet — browsing history, searches, content of your emails, online chats, even your metadata — all at the tap of the keyboard." This actually proves my statement that it is programs doing the work rather than your assertion of personnel doing the spying.

"And in the end, we were all just humans, drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness."

Re: New Snowden leak: NSA program taps all you do online

Originally Posted by Mr. Invisible

Actually, you are the one that mentioned personnel spying on American citizens, when I bought up a program doing it. The article in the OP clearly states that "You've never heard of XKeyscore, but it definitely knows you. The National Security Agency's top-secret program essentially makes available everything you've ever done on the Internet — browsing history, searches, content of your emails, online chats, even your metadata — all at the tap of the keyboard." This actually proves my statement that it is programs doing the work rather than your assertion of personnel doing the spying.

You clearly stopped reading there, then.

The program gives analysts the ability to search through the entire database of your information without any prior authorization — no warrant, no court clearance, no signature on a dotted line. An analyst must simply complete a simple onscreen form, and seconds later, your online history is no longer private. The agency claims that XKeyscore covers "nearly everything a typical user does on the Internet."

Analysts being people. Human beings.

I love the NSA. It's like having a secret fan-base you will never see, but they're there, watching everything you write and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that I may be some person's only form of unconstitutional entertainment one night.

Re: New Snowden leak: NSA program taps all you do online

What I said was that the program was doing the work. The only thing the analyst is doing is accessing that data. In terms of monitoring, which is what you originally said:

Originally Posted by Surtr

It's not "insider information", it's common sense. Do you honestly believe that the number of personnel they have has the capacity to scan hundreds of millions of mouse clicks, phone calls, and texts every second of the day? That's stupid. They'll be looking at specifically targeted areas for suspicious activity. Any idiot with half a brain and even the most basic knowledge of how the department of defense operates can figure that out.

the analysts are not doing that. The program is doing the actual monitoring.

"And in the end, we were all just humans, drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness."